Winners, Grades 5-6

It was a wintery crisp night, and the only movement in the house was the flickering twitch of the candle light,

The soft wind blows bringing layers of snow, it will be everywhere you step, everywhere you go.

The world seems sound asleep, not even mouse's squeak, or even the. skittering of its feet.

Though what is that noise? The sound on the roof the sound of a deer's feet, in a soft thump, thump, beat, There's a rustle, a tussle going down the chimney.

The soft pound rattles the floor, going toward the Christmas tree that stands by the door, in my bed I lay warm and asleep, knowing that if I was awake I would have no presents to keep. I dream of the bells the ones that say. Merry Christmas, those jingling bells, the ones that hang from the magical deer bound sleigh. I dream of him the one on his way the one that may be soon on your way. Then my dream passes and so does Santa and so does the bells, and so does the reindeer.

I wake up to the light of the sun that gives way through the house, making me want to hurry, to see what is under the tree, of this Christmas morning.

Dad's New Gnome

By Gwyneth Crossman

Grade 6, Oyster River Middle School

Meghan was sure that this would be the worst Christmas ever. She and her family were moving halfway across the USA, from the pale green house in Maine to her grandparents' ranch in Just About Nowhere, Kansas. 1,782 miles. Meghan had counted. She was sure even Case, her baby brother, knew the McClare family was down on their luck; they had to sell the house she'd known so well and come to live with Gran and Pops. And a week before Christmas, too!

When they arrived, Meghan found it wasn't as bad as she'd anticipated. The house was big, full of staircases and hidden closets. The garden and woods were nice too, with lots of trees and shrubs, but it just didn't feel like home.

That night Dad showed the family what he'd gotten along with the groceries: a new garden gnome. Meghan almost groaned about the addition to her father's extensive collection, but something stopped her. This gnome looked like Santa, with a sparkly twinkle in its eye. He said it would bring them some holiday spirit, and something about it made her want to believe him. The last activity of the day was Dad putting all his gnomes outside in the garden. Meghan went to bed, hating her parents for uprooting her entire life.

The next morning the Santa gnome was sitting on the mantelpiece. That's odd, thought Meghan. I could've sworn Dad put him outside. But gnome or no gnome, it was time to tour of the ranch. Pops stayed at the house with Case. Meghan rode a brown horse name Cinnamon, wishing she could shut out Gran's voice droning on about which pasture was which and the personalities of the cows. When the family returned, they were mystified to find a Christmas tree in the corner, complete with ornaments and a brass star on top! Everybody asked Pops if he'd done it. He said he hadn't.

As the week preceding Christmas continued, the holiday strangeness just got stranger. On Tuesday, they found a wreath outside on the porch. On Wednesday, Gran's Christmas songbooks, lost for a year, appeared on the piano. On Thursday, it snowed! That meant Meghan had the day off from school, which she was a little sad about, since she'd met a girl named Brenna who had some real friend potential. But after a day of playing in the snow with Brenna, drinking hot chocolate, and playing Parcheesi with Pops, Meghan realized she'd gone to bed happy.

Friday was Christmas Eve. Gran called a family meeting and decided they would have a real Christmas celebration this year! She got to work, baking sweetbreads & cookies and preparing some of her famous Red-Green-and-White Salad. The rest of the family went to town, to buy more food and presents. That evening, milk and cookies were found sitting on the table, and a stocking for each person was hanging from the mantel. The Santa gnome, also there, seemed to be smiling more than ever.

On Christmas Day, Meghan woke up excited. Around 9, the first guests came, which was surprise! They said they'd heard about the party from someone. Nobody could remember who. Soon, the whole town was there! Brenna introduced Meghan to Kenzie and Skye, two of her friends, and all four drifted toward the kitchen. As Meghan passed the mantelpiece, something caught her eye. That's funny, she thought. Since when has Dad's new gnome been winking? Wondering, Meghan walked off to join the party with her new friends.

Tracks in the Snow

By Emmy Goyette

Grade 6, Oyster River Middle School

Faun loved life. She loved to dance in the rain, and sing in the moonlight. Her spirit was pure, and her heart was as golden as the ribbons in her curly chocolate hair. She had a passion for everything, and a strong passion too, for a girl of only six. She never whined, or complained about her family's lack of money. In fact, she embraced it with open arms, making sure to cherish every little bit of good fortune that came her way. Despite all that though, she never got anything from Santa.

Every Christmas, Faun hung up her stocking, and every Christmas, she found it empty. She would always get a trinket or two from her parents, but never anything from Santa. She heard her friends talking of flying reindeer, and little elves, and the jolly old man that brought presents to all the little good girls and boys. She wondered why she was different. Maybe she was just a little girl Santa had forgotten, because he worked so hard. She couldn't be on the naughty list, could she?

Christmas Eve rolled round again. Faun went caroling, and she and her family had a small dinner. This year though, Faun had decided she wanted things to be different. She was going to sleep by the hearth. She wasn't giving up hope that this year, Santa would come. She took a fuzzy blanket, a small pillow, and her fuzzy teddy bear that she had loved since she was one year old. Then she kissed her parents goodnight, and waited.

It was midnight. The fire had dimmed, and all that remained were a few dying embers. The only sound to be heard was the howl of the icy wind outside. Then there was a noise. THUMP! It came from the roof. Faun woke with a start, realizing she had fallen asleep. She looked around, seeing nothing suspicious in the soft light. Then it came again. THUMP! She whipped around, and saw that the fire had gone out completely. She figured it was some stray wind, and started to close her eyes. Then she heard something different. The distinct sound of bells, coming from outside.

Faun looked out the window, and saw a figure. It was a plump man, with an odd looking hat. She also saw deer, with huge antlers. And was that a sleigh? The whole sight was too much for Faun. She had never seen anything like it before! She was about to cover her head with her pillow, and blame the sight on too many cookies, when the deer started to pace nervously. The wind whistled. The snow swished. It was like the night was calling to her, singing a soft song in its haunting language. There was something almost magical in the air. Faun was mesmerized. Then everything stopped completely. The man had turned around.

Faun woke up. She looked around, and noticed something. Her stocking was full. She ran down the hall, screaming to her parents that Santa had come. She looked into her stocking and saw toys, and candy canes, and gum drops and so much more! Then she remembered her strange dream the night before.

She told it to her mother, wondering if it had anything to do with her full stocking. Her mother dismissed the thought as silly. Magic? As if. Just out of curiosity, she looked outside. She saw something so unbelievable, but clearly there. There was an odd hat. Something else too. Next to that hat, there were tracks in the snow.

The Light of my Day

By Annabelle Beaton

Grade 5, Stratham Memorial School

I hear my father's sobs from the room next door. I've never heard my dad cry, but now I see him cry every day. I hear the awful silence that isn't really silent. It's a loud, ugly noise. I thought the holiday time is supposed to be happy, joyful, beautiful. The white, crisp snow covers the world in a blanket. The blanket is like the warm soft blanket on your bed after a night sledding. My nana walks into the room and places a suitcase on the bed.

“Honey, it's time to go, we are going to my house for the holidays,” My nana sighs. “Bree I know it's hard. But your dad needs some time alone.” She kisses my forehead. My hand clutches the locket my mom gave me before she died. Inside it has a picture of my father and her at their wedding day, so beautiful and young. On the other side, is a picture of me. My dark, curly brown hair. My bright, blue eyes twinkle like a newborn star, shining in the sky.

As soon as I got to Nana's house she calls me. Her house smelled like gingerbread candle. “Bree, come here. Let's make Christmas cookies together,” my Nana calls to me from the kitchen. Although I wasn't in the mood for making cookies, I dragged myself into the kitchen. My nana smiled that smile, the one that held love, sympathy and hope all in one. “Do you want to make sugar cookies or red velvet?” She asks.

>“Sugar cookies” I answer. Red velvet was mom's favorite. We mix flour, vanilla, and eggs into a big bowl. As I bring the big bin of flour over to the cabinet, somehow I drop the tub and the flour explodes into my face! The flour looks like little puffs of smoke, coming out of a train. My nana, laughs holding her stomach and giggling. I close my eyes, and sigh. I hear my nana's laugh fill up the room like eggnog getting poured into a glass. Somehow I laugh a real laugh. Laugh, laugh, laugh. This is the first real laugh I've had since my mom died. The white powder covers my face like a snow covered branch. I open my eyes and flour covers the kitchen. “No worries, Bree. I'll clean it up later.” My nana laughs. I laugh, I even smile. I'm surprised to realize, I feel happy. As light as a feather, a cloud. My mouth is in the form of an orange wedge. I scoop batter onto the cookie sheet. My nana and I laugh hysterically for no reason. It feels good to laugh. After we put the cookies in the oven we have to clean up. I fill up two buckets of water and two large sponges. We sponge up the floor and laugh as we splash water at each other, not caring that our damp clothes are sticking to us.

That night we sit by the fireplace, curled up in a blanket together on the couch. I have a glass of hot chocolate in my hand. The marshmallows bob up and down like buoys. The Christmas tree lights up the room with a glowing goodness. We watch a movie and laugh at the funny parts. My Nana tells me stories about my mother when she was young. My Nana looks at me and tilts her head. “You are a beautiful young girl. You're full of, light, and happiness. You're the light of my day” My Nana says.

“I love you too” I whisper under the dancing flames of the fire.

The Showman

By Griffinn Gower

Grade 5, Lebanon Elementary School

There, I am done with my Christmas letter to Santa. There is no one in our whole town that believes in Santa, but me. I always try to tell people he is real, but they just walk away in disgust. There is a legend that the people of this town believe, but no one will talk about it, it's kind of strange.

It is 4 p.m. and the sun is going down. I have just finished my snowman. You see, I am planning to place my letter to Santa in my snowman's hand, hoping Santa will come and get it before the letter carrier destroys it. I have this theory about the letter carrier: he shreds my letter to Santa every year.

Later that night I tuck myself into bed. As I am lying there, I keep thinking that giving that letter to my snowman was a stupid idea. No one believes, so why do I? But something deep inside me tells me I am right, and he IS real. I finally fall asleep and have a dream about a snowman. The snowman looks exactly like the one I had made today,; it even had my letter in its hand. He was telling me to never stop believing; then suddenly he just disintegrated into the wind with the letter drifting off with him.

The next morning I wake up, determined to destroy the snowman, because it was just a dream, and we all know dreams don't come true. But when I open the door, the snowman is gone. All that remains is his top hat and what looks like a letter. I pick it up, and it is a letter, not mine, but one with a seal on it, and the initials S.C. I open it and see a fancy border surrounding the words, “Santa will come. Sincerely, Frosty the Snowman.”

As I go through the day, I keep hoping this letter isn't a practical joke. Later that night I hear a “Ho, ho, ho” and I can't believe my eyes; it is Santa. He is on his sleigh, which looks way cooler than it does in the books and movies. It is made out of ivory with carvings of reindeer on it. And his reindeer ... they are amazing. They can talk! I fly through the front door, anxious to see him up close. Santa walks over to me and says he has a special job for me. I can hardly believe what I am seeing and hearing, but I listen closely. Santa asks me to build another snowman, but this time, right in the middle of town.

When I ask why, he just says, “Trust me,” Then he was gone in an instant. I run all the way to the town square and start building my snowman. When I am finished I don't know what to do, so I sit and wait. Before long the snowman comes to life. He tells me a long tale about how a spell was put on the town to make everyone stop believing and all that was needed was for someone to break the spell by building a snowman in the town square. Before long the rest of the town wakes up. I could tell something was different right away. People were singing Christmas carols, decorating trees, wrapping gifts and little kids were coming to the town square to put their letter to Santa in the snowman's hand.

I guess dreams come true, after all.

The Holiday Spirit

By Tyler Johnson

Grade 5, Stratham Memorial School

Somewhere in outer space, there was a planet. It was very similar to ours, except for one thing. There was no Holiday Spirit. No one believed in it. They didn't even celebrate Christmas. One day humans from Earth came to the planet. All the people on the planet hid. They were still hiding when they fell asleep.

The next morning a brave person slowly crept out to make sure the intruders were not still there. He didn't see anything or anyone, so he told the others it was safe to come out.

The people searched for anything that could have been left by the intruders. Suddenly someone shouted “I found something!”. People rushed over to see what he had found. When they got there, they found that in a field there were lots of tiny green trees that had green needles instead of leaves. The person who had found the trees said, “I also found this,” and he pulled out a letter. The Governor was there and he took the letter and opened it. He read aloud, “Hello fellow aliens. We mean no harm. We have noticed that you have no pine trees, or Christmas trees. So these trees that are planted in this field are pine trees. We are coming back tomorrow, so if you have any questions leave a letter where this one was. We will answer them. Sincerely. Al and Mac the astronauts.”

“This is something that has never happened before. We must write a letter with all of that you have.

2. The purpose of our visit is to get you to celebrate Christmas and help you find the Christmas spirit.

3. We came here in a spaceship.

All the things that we have left are to put on your tree. Well. first you chop down one of the trees. Then you take them home, put the things on the tree to make it look nice, then put presents under the tree for your family. We hope you have a good Christmas.” So the people did just that. When they got everything together, and celebrated, they were very happy. Al and Mac had done their job. The people had found the holiday spirit.

Old Man Winter

By Mark Rotering

Grade 6, The Derryfield School

The woods are dark and very scary

crawling with creatures big and hairy

But when the first signs of fall ends

the creatures waltz into their dens

I hike and walk into the woods

thinking that everything is gone for good

I do not notice lingering in the air

something giving me an icy stare

I look to see what it could be

but all I hear are the songs of a chickadee

I turn around, and keep on hiking

and I see something very striking

I don't know what I am seeing

but it looks like the face of a human being

The trees and twigs are bent into the face of an old man

his beard is the snow covered bushes, rooted into the land

I stand there just paralyzed in fear

and then suddenly I start to hear

The old man speaks to me with gentle words

like the sound of very gentle birds

Winter is this old man's name.

He says that he is very tame

Winter tells me he is very lonely

since the forest is so boney

I tell him that I will be his friend

and from there the friendship will never end

I talk to him and he talks to me

we are very friendly, as friendly can be

Winter teaches me how he works

spreading his magic around the earth

Winter paints the woods from head to toe

so no dirt or decaying plant will show

The snow flakes soon begin to fall

and there are so many, I can't count them all

Joy and pleasure fills the air

so not one part of the woods is bare

Winter and I build some snow men

We both agree on making ten

Winter makes the snow men come alive

and they dance right up into the sky

Winter and I find a tree

it is big enough to hold three

We fix it up and find a hill

and then we go sledding which is a thrill

Even though we are having fun

I look up and notice the sun

It is setting down behind the hills

just thinking about nighttime gives me the chills

Winter asks me where I am going

I tell him I must go before the moon starts glowing

Winter knew I must go

So we weaved through the woods to and fro

Winter says his last goodbye

and we both start to cry

Yet we know we will see each other tomorrow

so we don't fill up on too much sorrow

The winter season has just begun

so I will wait for much more fun

In the morning I'll go see Winter

and maybe even bring my sister

Winter may seem cold as ice

but from what I have learned he is very nice

This friendship will just never end because

I have a very good friend

The Christmas Puppies

By Hannah Tormay

Grade 5, Dover Middle School

Ivy loved Christmas. Her whole family loved Christmas more than anyone. She was named after her parent's favorite Christmas song and her brother was named Maxx after the dog in The Grinch. Ivy's birthday was on Christmas Eve and she was going to be 10 this year. When she was 8 she got a golden retriever. She named her Jingles because it was so close to Christmas and she loved the name.

Now Jingles is going to have puppies! Ivy is going to give the puppies away to kids for Christmas presents. The kids are going to go to her house on Christmas Eve to celebrate her birthday with her.

The theme of the party is Christmas. Ivy and her friends are going to look for hidden candy canes, make gingerbread houses and gingerbread cookies. Then they will sprinkle colorful reindeer food on top of the snow. The glitter will shine in the moon. The reindeer will see it for sure.

One week later ...

The puppies slept well last night. I'm so excited, it's Christmas Eve and it's my birthday party day. We've been taking care of 8 puppies. It's been such a fantastic experience and the puppies have been so good. My friends will arrive at 2:00. My family is getting ready for the party. My mom is decorating the front hallway with streamers — green and red. My father is hiding the candy canes and Maxx is getting the sprinkles and frosting ready for the cookie decorating. I am making a heaping bowl of glittery reindeer food. Our Christmas tree is dazzling with beautiful ornaments. I put Christmas ribbons on the puppies.

The guests are arriving at my birthday party. Everyone brought puppy related presents for me. The party was the best party ever. My best friend found the most candy canes. We made the best gingerbread cookies ever! I loved my presents! No one knew about the big surprise I had planned. It was time to go outside and throw the reindeer food onto the snow.

Ivy and her friends went back in the house and gathered around in a circle. I had a puppy crate behind me. I told everyone my big surprise ... you are all getting puppies! They screamed with joy! I gave Holly and Ivy to a brother and sister at the party. Two brothers and a sister got a puppy Angel. A boy got the puppy Boots. A girl got a puppy named Mittens. Two sisters got a puppy named Snowflake. My parents surprised me and gave me a puppy. I named the puppy Bell. Now I have Jingles and Bell — get it?

Everyone was happy with their new puppy and so excited for Christmas. They got their presents back to use with their own puppy. I was so tired but not too tired to put out cookies and milk for Santa. We had a big surprise for Santa. We gave him a puppy too! We left it under the Christmas tree with a note on it. The note said, “Dear Santa, I am giving you this puppy. You can name it whatever you want. I hope you and Mrs. Claus and the elves take very good care of him. Merry Christmas! Love Ivy and Maxx

Late that night Ivy heard a noise and looked outside. She saw Santa and the reindeer fly across the moon. She's sure she saw Santa holding a puppy.

Christmas morning ...

Ivy and Maxx were shocked and surprised on Christmas morning. They had a lot of presents! Ivy got a power scooter and Maxx got a Wii u. They noticed Santa ate his snack and left a note. The note said, “Dear Ivy and Maxx, Thank you for the cookies and puppy. I named the puppy Snowball because we love snow! Mrs. Claus and the elves will love the puppy. Santa HOHOHO

Best Christmas ever!

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